BloodCounts!
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Application of rich full blood count data for early SARS-CoV-2 disease outbreak and adverse public health event detection
IRAS ID
303792
Contact name
James Rudd
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) and Cambridge University
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Currently, we detect most disease outbreaks because we already know what we are looking for. However, as the Covid-19 pandemic showed, this method is inadequate for early detection of new threats. There is an urgent need for simple and affordable methods to detect new diseases globally as they are happening.
We propose to use data from a Full Blood Count (FBC) test to predict infectious disease outbreaks. The FBC is an essential test which is used to advise medical decision making. An automated machine generates over a thousand data points per blood sample. These data points are simplified to 17 pieces of information which doctors use. Currently, the rest of this information-rich data is discarded.
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether we can use all the FBC data as a disease early-warning system. We spotted a hidden signature which detected the Covid-19 pandemic from a population in Cambridge. We will now collect FBC data from everyone who has had a blood test from hospitals in Cambridge and London (UCLH and Barts) from 2018 until 2025. We will link this FBC data to clinical data and anonymise it. There will be no change to the patient experience. We will use this data to develop machine learning models which describe the non-pandemic FBC pattern. We will use these models to detect differences in FBC tests from the same population. Any differences from the baseline could be an early warning sign of an increase of a disease. If successful, we plan to expand this project around the world so our early warning system can detect several infectious diseases, including the next inevitable pandemic. We will also use this large dataset to investigate whether the FBC test is a useful tool for earlier diagnosis of non-infectious conditions, such as heart failure.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0165
Date of REC Opinion
9 Mar 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion